


It Was Not

by Pluttskutt



Series: FH Flatmates AU [24]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 02:18:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13471605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pluttskutt/pseuds/Pluttskutt
Summary: Fenris is enjoying the weather outside with Isabela who doesn't mind coming over to spend time with two friends and their dirty dog.





	It Was Not

**Author's Note:**

> Big thank you again Nackledamia for Beta this part and keeping me on track! ^w^
> 
> I hope you enjoy this part where we see Isabela one last time before the end.

Isabela slurped her drink loudly. "So," she asked, stirring it with her straw, "how are you holding up?" Her eyes shifted from Garrett who was out on the lawn with Cooper, back to Fenris who sat beside her in a sun chair.

Fenris moved the blanket to cover his stomach and shrugged. "I am glad not to be at the apartment." That was true, but he wasn't happy with being ordered to recover and just sit or lie down all day.

Isabela put her straw in her mouth. "Take it your injury forced you to become more creative with your sex life," she stirred her drink and smacked her lips.

He stared at her, eyebrows raised, frozen. Why she would ask that was beyond him. No, it wasn't, because it was Isabela, but how could she think they had any sex life at all? He had explained to her that physical intimacy made him uncomfortable.

"Oh," she rolled her eyes. "A few weeks ago you told me what happened between you." She wiggled her eyebrows and bobbed her head to Garrett in the distance.

"That wasn't sex," Fenris objected. He didn't understand her reasoning and way of thought, why she would ask.

"That wasn't... honey," she put her drink away and leaned closer towards him. "Were you physically intimate?" she inquired.

It was a difficult question to answer, and he glanced towards Garrett. It didn't feel like he could hear their conversation. "Yes," he whispered his reply.

"Then you had sex." Isabela clapped his shoulder. "One thing you learn is that sex is a lot of things. Very varied. It's not just..." she raised her hands, touching the tip of her index finger and thumb together to form a circle. She put her other index through the hole, illustrating her point.

He closed his eyes and groaned. "Got it," he frowned.

She chuckled at his reply, satisfied with his reaction. "I'm serious though, it doesn't have to be," she repeated the motion again.

Cooper darted by them like a bullet and interrupted their conversation. He barked and forced the baclony door open with his head, running inside.

Garrett walked after and stopped by them to catch his breath. His bare chest raised and lowered quickly as he recovered from running around with his hound.

Isabela eyed him and pouted. "I changed my mind, your home does have a nice view," she said, and slurped her drink again.

Garrett turned his head and looked at her, but seemed to decide not to question her. Instead he turned his attention to Fenris. "You okay?" He put his hands on his waist, inhaling deeply.

Indeed, no one would complain about the view. Fenris had seen Garrett's bare chest before but he'd been too nervous to touch, or ask to, because of what it might lead to. "Yes," he said, and sipped his own drink. Nothing but water was allowed to pass his lips yet, but he had almost convinced Garrett to buy him a soft drink.

Garrett's smile widened, and he looked at the open doors. "I'm gonna take a shower. You good out here?" he asked.

"Oh!" Isabela bursted out. "Can you one thing for me when you're done in the shower?" she asked, half pouting.

"Okaaaay," Garrett dragged out his answer.

She smiled. "When you're done in the shower and have wrapped your towel around your waist," she demonstrated with her hands, "could you come out here? Just for a second."

Garrett walked inside without a word.

"Aww, c'mon!" she called after him, laughing her ass off.

Fenris groaned and shut his eyes. "Can't you just go to a bar?" Oogling Garrett wasn't limited to him, he knew that, but if Isabela would spend her whole visit flirting with him he wasn't sure he could handle it.

"I could." She leant back in her chair. "But the food is much better here. Also watching Garrett be your personal assistant is too cute to pass up." She winked at him, smirking.

He rolled his eyes. It was true Garrett watched him like a hawk, but he hadn't asked for it so it annoyed him. His injury hadn't paralyzed him and he didn't approve of the doctor's order for bedrest.

Cooper buffed his hand with his nose to get patted. If Garrett's presence annoyed him, it was nothing like his mabari. The first days he hadn't left Fenris' side and would even howl if he wasn't let into the bathroom. One good thing was that he didn't nag about eating proper food, which was what Garrett continuously repeated like a broken record.

Isabela reached her hand out and scratched Cooper's butt. She wrinkled her nose. "He's dirty," she commented, and pulled her hand back. It earned her a whine of disapproval.

Fenris petted Cooper's head and scratched him behind his ear. "He's a hound." Dirty was their thing, as the smell that followed them. All dogs of any size and breed were dirty.

"He didn't used to be this dirty." She narrowed her eyes and grabbed her drink.

He patted Cooper's neck. _Does she mean before I moved in,_ he thought, _or before that?_ What time she meant wasn't easy to know.

She said nothing more about it and looked at her empty glass. "I'm getting a refill, want something?" she asked, and stood up. Normally she wouldn't offer to get something for her friends but given his situation he was glad she made an exception. "Right, you can't drink anything but water." She grabbed the empty jug and walked away.

A deep sigh escaped him when she walked inside and disappeared from view. Water tasted like nothing to him, no matter how much cucumber and lemon slices Garrett put in it. Was a soft drink really too much to ask for? If he could eat normal food, surely a strawberry flavoured soft drink wouldn't kill him. Not that Garrett listened to his reasoning.

"Kaffas," he muttered, and leant back in his chair. A blue sky with white fluffy clouds painted a pretty picture. The sun stood high up there but wasn't too warm. Tevinter had warmer temperature than Kirkwall, so he didn't complain as quickly as Garrett. Ferelden had warm but shorter summers so Garrett wasn't used to the weather in Kirkwall, where it rarely if ever snowed.

Cooper licked his hand and walked around his chair to lie down beside him in the shadows. He looked at the hound. Mabaris were the smartest dog breed in Thedas, but he wondered exactly how smart they were. They imprinted on one person, not necessarily the one who cared for them as puppies, and never changed person. In Ferelden it was an honour to be chosen.

Garrett had said that Carver had been jealous when Cooper imprinted on Marian. _Is he still imprinted on Marian even after her death,_ Fenris wondered. It was clear Cooper respected Garrett because he hadn't acted out when Fenris moved in, but he didn't listen to every command Garrett said. This could be because Garrett didn't know what the commands were, but since he sometimes listened it seemed more that he choose when to obey.

"Do you miss her?" he asked, and brushed his hand through his soft fur. _Had the hound searched for Marian or accepted she was gone,_ he wondered, but wouldn't ask.

Garrett had said Fenris could ask any question, but he tensed up whenever family came up. There was a reason no one mentioned Marian, and he wouldn't bring her up. Last time they spoke of his family was when he wanted to look through the photos of the memorial. A chill went through his body. The video played in his head. Cold hands brushed his ear. Humiliating nicknames taunted him. Restrains cut into his skin when he moved.

A wet tongue licked his chin. Whiskers tickled his ears and the wet nose pumped into his as Cooper licked him again. Because the mabari was so large in size, it didn't have to stand on him to reach his face. He raised his hand and patted the hound.

"What's going on?" Isabela asked. "Stop eating people, it's not nice."

Fenris laughed at that and pushed Cooper away lightly. "He was helping," he explained, and looked at the jug she put down on the table out of his reach. It was dark red colour in colour, not transparent like water should be.

She grabbed his glass and poured up some red water for him. "Yeah, he's good with that." She handed him the glass with a wink. "I found some strawberry drink, thought you'd appreciate it." She smiled like she'd been naughty spoiling him.

"Thanks," he said, and drank his soft drink. It was the exact one he had asked for since he came home.

She sat down with her own drink, this time in a larger glass. "I bought it for you," she reached for her cellphone on the table and grabbed it.

_Why would she buy it for me_ , he thought, and tilted his head a little to the side.

"I mean, Garrett asked me to buy that and some other things. Don't think I'm soft," she explained, looking through her phone and drinking simultaneously.

"I thought Garrett wanted me to stay healthy for my recovery," he voiced his thoughts. "Why didn't he buy this himself?" It tasted sweet like he remembered. At the hospital, he had only had the option of apple and orange soft drink, which he didn't like so much. Meaning he didn't like them at all.

"And leave you alone here? Yeah right." Isabela scoffed.

He twirled the straw between his index finger and thumb, considering what it meant. "My injury has impacted Garrett a lot." It was an odd thought, accompanied by feelings he had difficulties placing. Should he be happy Garrett put his well being so high up, or concerned?

Isabela glanced at him. "That bothers you?" she asked, and put her phone on her thigh.

He looked away. "I am not sure." It was the truth, so he said that. Neglecting to buy food because he thought Fenris wouldn't be okay alone wasn't good. More than that, it wasn't healthy.

Isabela watched him. A frown grew on her face, and she chewed her bottom lip but remained silent.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Don't forget to kudos or leave a comment to share your thoughts. You can also hit me up on my tumblr [pluttskutt](http://pluttskutt.tumblr.com/) to chat!


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